Things the cat dragged in
BY NICK BARNETTMy pets have brought me many gifts. The gift of companionship, the gift of play, the gift of warmth on a cold night. But there are other gifts...a lot less gifty.
The gift of bugs: My old cat Pierre (sadly missed) used to catch huge moths or thumb-sized beetles and deposit them inside the house. Pierre's interest would wane so I'd have to catch the injured bug and release it outside. "Fly free!" I'd cry, as it fell on the grass.
The gift of lizards: Sometimes I'd spot the wiggly tail bit first. Once, I discovered slightly too late that a caught lizard is quite likely to hide in an empty shoe. Eww.
The gift of rodents (alive): Another of Pierre's tricks. He would head out at night to the gathering places of the local rat and mouse fraternity, find one who was lonely or easily led, and bring it back inside through the catflap. For a while he'd play with the rodent, inevitably lose track of it, and then lost interest.
So I'd be left with a mouse or rat to deal with. Not all of them left the house alive, but I'll say this: I saved more than I dispatched.
The gift of rodents (no longer alive): Whole ones, half ones... I have learnt to step carefully in unlit rooms.
The gift of birds: On one occasion alive - I managed to pick it up while distracting Pierre, and free it out of a window. On other occasions dead in a feathery mess. Pierre would sometimes sit at the door waiting to be let in, his mouth full of struggling bird, and make the strategic error of meowing for attention. The bird would shoot from his mouth like a cruise missile.
(My current cat Merrick is a rare hunter. I'm glad to say I've never seen him catch a bird.)
The gift of food: My partner's old dog Ozone once arrived at home with a whole, heated, supermarket chicken complete with foil bag.
The gift of What the Hell is That?: Imagine, if you will, a bleary-eyed early-morning view down the stairs into an entrance hall. Imagine the heart-stopping moment when the object is seen, lying half in shadow and 10 metres distant. Imagine the tentative, nauseated approach. Imagine the wave of relief when closer inspection reveals it to be...merely a raw pink sausage.
What's the weirdest/grossest/most valuable thing your pet has dragged in?
Picture: Reuters
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Dogs used to bring home live prey. Rabbits mostly, possums occassionally, and a Muttonbird once - Retrivers eh?
World Record would have to go to the German lady whose dog brought back a WW2 live grenade instead of a stick the other day.
"The gift of headless rabbit with bonus free eyeballs." Yep, the cat ate the rabbits head but spat out the eyeballs!
My cat Koru (sadly missed) was a very generous fellow.
He bought me sticks, leaves, cicadas -- always alive, corks, the water colour blocks from a childs paint set, and roof slime -- fresh off the roof! His coup de maître was a pink fluffy headband with fluffy antennae stolen as its owners watched in horrified amusement!
I have had the gift of baby mice (so cute but sadly they all expired after such shock), the gift of feathers (I assume the bird had been eaten!), and the gift of leaves. Somehow, to a cat, leaves must look like small mice or birds. Luckily no bugs, as they seem to get eaten straight away.
Oh, and also the gift of "I am bringing a friend to visit" at 1am - the strange cat in my house did NOT like being chased out and ran into quite a few windows in panic.
@ xLeahx The gift of "I am bringing a firend to visit" - 4am yesterday morning. Our lovely cat couldnt get in his usual window so he sat outside meowing to get let in, two of his friends thought it was sing song time, and for half an hour they sat on the roof and yeowled. Lesson learnt - do not assume you can sleep unless cat is happy.
Before I start this litany of destruction of the native wildlife I must tell you that our cat has a collar with a bell & a name tag. We keep her in at night. These have not deterred her.
I think fondly of the early days when she used to bring us sticks & cicadas. Over the course of the next 2 years she managed to bring down: a starling, a waxeye, a kingfisher (bad enough) & a tui (noooo!!)
But the crowning gross-out moment was when she fronted up with something that looked like the avian right to life poster: no feathers, wings not formed, eyes still not open. At least it was dead. Unlike its twin, which she brought in 5 minutes later....eeeeek!!
We've moved house though & the wildlife must be quicker there. She hasn't brought us any 'presents'since.
Mum's cats regularly bring her lizards, birds and rodents. Frequently we have come across the half-eaten body of a large rat, with the eaten half ever-so-delicately vomited up next to it. ugh.
My two cats bring in a wide variety. Rambo (the fat black moggie) has brought us worms, leaves, birds (again and again and again. His favourite thing seems to be bringing back the same dead bird several times over the course of about three days). The best catch Rambo has ever made was a rabbit that was the same size as he was. He was ever so proud of himself for bringing home a white and grey fluffy bunny (we live on the North Shore, so clearly bun-bun was someone's pet and not wild). He left it by the cat door, as it was too heavy to drag inside.
Sanchez (a Tonkinese who's the biggest nosey-parker you'll ever meet) likes to bring us birds, rats, leaves and wattle seed pods, bark from the park next door, he's brought in half-eaten pancakes and loads of bread rolls. Grossest thing he's ever brough in was a used tampon-bleurgh!!!
We have a cat who has a favourite thing to do. It generally plays out in the following manner:
Cat: aren't I clever, look I brought in a .... um ... oh damn ... I had it here a minute ago. Look, it was right here. It had lots of legs.
This then leads to me trying to lift up the fridge to retrieve something with at least four legs that is now hiding under there.
How about the still writhing eel minus its head ... I just about screamed the house down! Thank Ding Ding
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My cat once brought in a tiny kitten (not hers). She seemed very pleased with herself and they enjoyed playing together in the bathroom while I went around knocking on doors trying to find its owners (and then convince them I was not a kitten stealing menace).